Waikato electricity distributor WEL Networks reported an $18.7 million annual net profit, with the result puffed up by the one-off profit from the sale of wind farm resource consents to Meridian Energy.

The wind farm WEL partnered with Meridian on is the $200 million Te Uku wind park, which brought in a $3.2 million one-off profit for WEL.

This helped boost the profit from last year’s $15.8 million.

Another highlight of the year was getting consumer-owned lines businesses, such as WEL, exempted from price and quality controls.

As WEL Network’s shareholder is a community trust, Waikato households will receive an average $275 payout from the $22.8 million being paid out from this year’s profits.